Entanglement of nature worshippers from Posočje with stones

english

2025

volume 33, issue 1

Univerza na Primorskem, Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče Koper
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

This article argues that the beliefs and belief system of nature worshippers from Posočje differ significantly from the Greco-Roman or Judeo-Christian hierarchical anthropocentric perspectives, which classify the ecosphere according to its usefulness. The mythical thinking of nature worshippers from Posočje is examined from an ecofeminist perspective. They viewed non-living entities not only as autonomously functional, i.e., without human domination, but as agencies that organize life around them. The intertwining of humans with the ecosphere, including the inanimate world, as found in the mythical thinking of Posočje nature worshippers, is analyzed in terms of accounts of media ecology and machine-oriented ontology, and treated considering some recently discussed posthumanist notions, such as “machinic assemblages” and “folding with the world.” Posočje nature worshippers understood trees and stones with special powers as shaping the actions and social relations of humans. Therefore, these entities should be seen as media, machines, or apparatuses that organize human life.

15.01.2026